Can we NOW put the "do no evil" bullshit to bed since TFA points out the fat cat CEOs of Google were flying on fuel that the American taxpayer was footing the bill for? If that would have been Cook or Ballmer pulling that shit the pitchforks would already be out and screams for a fraud investigation would be heard across the net, so fair is fair and I think an investigation is called for to see what other bills they may be sticking the American people. Of course since the DoJ was defanged ages ago its doubtful anybody will say boo to Google but at least it would be brought to the attention of the public.

As for solar planes? The problem is that even the best solar cells simply can't generate enough power to make it viable, the cells just haven't reached the level of efficiency required to get the job done. There is a reason why nobody has been able to truly replace internal combustion engines and that is the amount of energy per pound is unmatched by anything we've come up with so far,IIRC the closest we have come up with is hydrogen but it has 10 times less energy per pound than gas. Until we can come up with much more efficient solar cells and electric motors it'll always be a novelty.

Well WTF do you call their billionaire CEOs handing American public the bill for their Lear jet? fucking charity? I don't give a shit HOW you word it, its douchebag behavior and their sorry asses need to be brought before a court, have to pay ten times what they got in fines, and if there was ANY justice left in this country somebody would be going to jail.

Of course that is ignoring the truth of this country, if a poor man steals $500 he gets 10 years, if a rich man steals 500 million he get an awards ban

The kids of Slashdot who were once the innovators have become the lazy old leeches, so it's natural for them to admire the biggest online leech of all.

Of course, no "one man feat" is impressive when you have billions of dollars and dozens of top quality engineers to back up your effort. Pioneers are impressive precisely because they have none of that, and try as they might, these spoilt kids aren't going to enter the history books for anything more than "largest advertising platform on the planet, and a good variant of Apple's iPhone".

The term "aircraft" typically refers to [heavier than] aircraft, relying on aerodynamic lift rather than buoyancy. Still, the same surface area that gives an airship more power gives it more drag, requiring more power to resist weather. Now you are better off with an airship than an aircraft. If you covered the entire surface of an airship with solar panels, you would actually produce about half as much power as those airships would otherwise have. On the other hand, there is no way in hell you're going

Solar Planes are all ready possibly using 20% efficiency solar cells, with new cells able to hit 40% efficiency that are entering production never may come very soon. With battery weight going down it's a very good possibility that in the next 10 years a solar powered plane will be able to transport 4 people across the country. Add in the fact that maintenance costs will be less and there will be no fuel costs these planes could very easily compete with the Pipers.

Powered glider, sure, you could make solar powered. Conventional aircraft for moving people or cargo don't have the surface area to be solar powered, even with 99.999% efficient cells. Too much power requirements for too small of a space.

And there we have a shining example of what happens when you extrapolate a small dataset without regard for externalities.How about this: instead of claiming that PV cell efficiencies will climb to some magical number and simultaneously a massless battery with infinite charge capacity will be invented, try some simple calculations. Pretend that 100% of all solar power (roughly 1kW/m^2) is converted to electricity, calculate the amount of lift required to carry 300 to 350 kg (four medium sized people), and

"New" cells exceeding 30% efficiency have been around for decades. The trouble is that they are obscenely expensive multi-junction cells, and it's only worth the cost for spacecraft and concentrated solar power. When used in concentrated solar power, increased quantum efficiency brings thermodynamic efficiency closer to 40%, but this is not available to aircraft for obvious reasons.

The trouble is merely one of power. Aircraft require it, and solar cells need lots of area to provide much of it. Consider

Transportation is not the only use for aircraft. Solar powered planes would be ideal for surveillance, and as communications relays. For these applications speed is not important, but long loiter time and low maintenance are big benefits.

It really pisses me off that these billionaires like to get these sweet deals at our expense and have the nerve to blame us when we unemployment is high.

The billionaires are getting richer and in the meantime, our wages are stagnant at best or are going down - and it doesn't matter how hard you work or what your educational background is.

Those people rigged the game in their favor and then make it sound like it's our fault. And then you have people who go out and protest to allow the game to be further rigged in the billionaires' favor - Tea Party.

The numbers ARE showing that the billionaires are getting the bulk of the pie and it's all because they've rigged the system. I went and did the right thing and went to school - a state school - got a graduate degree because more education is always better, right?! and I'm worse off. And yet assholes like those people get cheap Jet A subsidized by you and me.

Remember that when you hear Rush, Hannity, or some other Fox News/Talk Radio asshole condemn the progressives for wanting wealth redistribution and for acting on class warfare.

Yeah, there's wealth redistribution all right - from the poor slobs like us to the billionaires - and it's NOT because they work harder or are smarter. They CHEAT!

By government subsidized, they mean that they're paying NASA's cost. Given the (tenuous) science work they're doing for NASA with thier aircraft, this is a)normal b) appropriate and c) necessary at Moffet. Does it really make sense to have a private entity at a government airfield just to sell fuel to one customer? No, hence a). Do you really want to pay some corporation a passthrough on the government's dollar when your government is paying for R&D out of a government airfield? No. Hence b) and c), tha

So what's your point? The billionaires rig the game. Government doesn't work for us little people, but for them. Government is their bitch and moving money to the big shots. Just look at what happened after the economic meltdown: they got billions from the taxpayer and we little people got the shaft.

Are you honestly that naive to think your vote means anything?

This is what happens, little person, they control BOTH parties, they are the ones who pick the candidates, and then we little people go to the poll

The solution to problems created by the goverment is usually to govern the goverment, a process excellently facilitated by democracy.

In this case it seems a bit fiddly, since the US is so large and has its particular voting system, but had this happened in a smaller country I imagine that there would be an inquiry followed, in a year or two, by new laws, banning this kind of government favour to companies.

I would however not be surprised if this kind of thing is not already illegal. How much government yo

My point is that the answer to government created problems is not more government.

Indeed, the answer to government-created problems is better government, not more government or less government. If your legislators are of the opinion that government is always the problem, it will be. Just don't vote for those candidates. Since you seem to be a guy who wants small government, I'm guessing you're part of why the politicians in office are governing badly.

That is a very well done AC troll. Good job.
On the off chance that you believe any of what you said, I've got one piece of advice for you:
When the well runs dry, the survivors move to where the water is.

Well, congrats to him for being modded +4 insightful. If I were moderating he'd be at +5, tool.

When the well runs dry, the survivors move to where the water is.

Where might that be, and how are the downtrodden to get there? History is repeating itself, fool. Read this history of the 1920s [virginia.edu] (required reading in a general studies undergrad history class I took in 1978, it's a very good read). The same shit is happening now. Then, it was Bolsheviks. Now, it's terrorists. Now you

Its a great achievement and all, but only for the record books. I don't think there is any conceivable way that a the technology could ever result in a real world passenger/cargo solar powered aircraft. They simply don't have the durability, capabilities & reasonable maintenance necessary. Even (possible) aircraft with low fuel consumption high surface area like that Aeroscraft zeppelin in development probably wouldn't be able to completely power their flight using solar. If solar panels are made li

Nobody gives a crap about some unwieldy gossamer solar-powered plane that's built solely as a publicity stunt. If Google really wants to change the world, they need to focus their resources, brains and dollars, on making the über battery.

Bah. People, companies, organizations, etc have been trying to solarize vehicles for decades and it always winds up being a reality check in engineering disguised as a publicity stunt. Oooo look! They built a solar powered car that can be driven across Australia! Big whoop. Nobody would ever use it for anything practical. Bottom line is that all manner of sci-fi gadgets, robots, flying cars, interstellar spacecraft, jet packs, etc. are all hampered by the lack of a power source the size of a brick tha

For one zero-percent body-fat freak of humanity. Wake me when you can pack a hundred or more people with all their luggage in it and fly across the pond at the same speed and cost or better as that of a 777.

Putting resources towards medical research is one thing but publicity stunts are pointless. Until a solar panel can power a fully loaded Ford F-150 for 400 miles, I'm not interested. And why wouldn't they take that money and use it as VC funding for people who don't want to work for Google. Or fund things like the X-Prize but with practical real-world goals.

The truth is that the fuel that they are getting is not NASA, but NSA discounted fuel. That is a slight and subtle difference.
The fact is that NSA gets much more data from Google, than NASA and the real sponsor needs also to be pointed out.